Tiffany Foster, a show jumping rider who hails from Langley, rode for Team Canada during a frustrating outing at the $290,000 Longines Nations’ Cup on Sunday in Palm Beach.
Foster and the other members of the Canadian show jumping team, Erynn Ballard, Mario Deslauriers and Amy Millar, placed fifth in the $290,000 Longines FEI Jumping Nations CupPalm Beach Masters in Wellington.
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“It definitely didn’t go the way we planned,” Foster told Black Press Media.
“[But] it wasn’t terrible. It’s all part of the process.”
The Florida event was the first of three qualifying events for the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup final.
The second will be held May 2 to 5 in Coapexpan, Mexico and the third qualifier is set for Thunderbird Show Park in Langley from May 28 to June 2.
Foster, who started her riding career in Langley, said Thunderbird is one of her favourite places to ride, a “world class” venue.
“They do a wonderful job,” Foster said.
“It’s always fun coming home.”
Foster began her training in Langley with Brent and Laura Balisky before moving to Toronto to train with Eric Lamaze in 2006.
She is currently based in Florida and Belgium
At the Sunday competition in Florida, Canada got off to a shaky start when lead-off rider Ballard, 38, suffered elimination at the fourth fence on course with Darkos Promise, an 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding owned by Ilan Ferder.
As the best three out of four scores are used toward the team total, the next three performances for Canada would all count.
Millar, 42, was working on a clear round as she approached the final line of Irish course designer Alan Wade’s track riding Heros, a 12-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding, but a rail coming out of the vertical-oxer-vertical triple combination added four faults to the Canadian scorecard.
Foster, 34, also ran into trouble at the triple combination, recording eight faults riding Figor, a nine-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding.
“My horse is young,” Foster said.
“It was a big ask for him.”
A veteran of Olympic and World Championship competition as well as the winner of the 1984 World Cup Final, Deslauriers, 53, used his experience to deliver a clear round for Canada riding Bardolina 2, a 10-year-old Holsteiner mare.
Counting the scores of four and eight posted by Millar and Foster respectively, the Canadian Team was sitting in fifth position with a total of 12 faults at the end of the opening round.
Ballard returned in round two to post an eight-fault score. Millar produced a clear round riding Heros to keep Canada in the hunt but when Foster and Deslauriers lowered a rail each, eight faults were added to the team total for a final score of 20 faults.
Mexico claimed victory with a total of four faults while Israel maintained a clear scorecard in the second round to finish runner-up on nine faults. The U.S. was third with 12 faults followed by Ireland with 17, Canada with 20, and Colombia with 28 .
“It was not the best day for us but I think our riders learned something about themselves and their horses that will help us in the future,” Canadian Show Jumping Team chef d’equipe Mark Laskin said.
“We’re in a bit of a hole now in terms of qualifying for the Nations’ Cup Final but I have the utmost confidence in our group being able to dig themselves out.”
The $290,000 Cup is the first of three qualifying events in the North America, Central America and Caribbean League for the Longines Nations’ Cup Final to be held in Barcelona, Spain, Oct. 3 to 6.
As the only three teams eligible for qualifying points, Mexico earned 100 points for the win while the United States earned 80.
Canada has 60 points on its scorecard heading into the next event, the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup to be held from May 2 to 5 in Coapexpan, Mexico.
The third and final qualifying event takes place on in Langley at the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup hosted at Thunderbird Show Park from May 28 to June 2.
At the conclusion, the top two teams in the point standings will be invited to contest the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup Final in Barcelona.
